No. 1:Jared Sullinger gets fitness tips from John Lucas — The one theme you hear every year around this time is “so and so has lost x-amount of weight.” It’s usually met with a ho-hum, although in certain situations, a drastic fitness shakeup is a rather big deal. Al Jefferson of the Hornets recently revealed he has given up fried chicken which allowed him to drop pounds, and now here comes Jared Sullinger and his weight-loss pledge. Although, in this case, it comes with a twist: He was whipped into shape by John Lucas. Sullinger is at a crossroads in his young NBA career; better fitness could make him see a breakthrough season. Here is Chris Mason of the Boston Herald with the details …

Sullinger’s weight has been a talking point since the Celtics drafted him three years ago, and it came to a head last season when he was reportedly tipping the scales at 300 pounds. The C’s want to see their 6-foot-9 forward around 260. For Sullinger to stay in green, something had to change. His family and Lucas saw that.

“(Lucas) personally came down and he told me ‘ you’ve got all the talent in the world, but you’ve forgotten what working hard is,'” Sullinger said. “For somebody to come all the way from Houston to Colombus Ohio, to stop whatever he was doing, he was there for me, and that’s what made me go and workout for John.”

Lucas is no stranger to interventions. The former Houston Rocket almost lost his entire career to drugs.

While he was in the NBA, Lucas was an alcoholic and a drug addict. In 1986, the guard tested positive for cocaine, and was released by the Rockets after a decade in the league. Lucas volunteered to go to rehab, straightened his life out, and now helps other basketball players do the same.

Sullinger doesn’t have a problem with drugs, but he’s had his career threatened by his weight.

“I think John’s biggest thing, with everything he went through – being the first NBA player to be kicked out of the NBA (for) drugs – I think John’s biggest focus was to not let me make the mistake. Sometimes, it’s not always drugs, it can be other things,” Sullinger said. “And he wanted to just clear my mind and understand that I could be whoever I want to be, I’ve just got to make the right choices.”

Sullinger was sold.

He went to Houston to workout with Lucas four different times in the offseason, for a total of eleven weeks. Sullinger was put through a series of unorthodox basketball workouts, and his exercising was coupled with a strict diet.

“I went from boxing, to swimming, to on the court basketball, to running track. I did so many other sports – other than basketball – there was one point where I was down in August for two weeks and I didn’t touch a basketball. He wouldn’t let me be on the basketball court and we just got in shape other ways,” Sullinger said.

***

No. 2:John Wall won’t be shy about approaching Kevin Durant — OK, take a wild guess about who will be subject to a Free-Agent Watch this season? Yes, it’s Kevin Durant and the obvious choice, besides OKC, competing for his services is the hometown Wizards. Durant learned the game in the DC suburbs and makes no secret of his love for his home base. Besides, the Wizards will have enough cap room next summer and they have John Wall, who’d be a capable replacement for Russell Westbrook should Durant bolt OKC. The odds have Durant staying put, but if so, it won’t be because Wall didn’t try to convince him. CSN spoke with Wall on a video story; here’s a snippet …

“There’s gonna be an opportunity to throw a pitch at him to try and get him to come back home,” Wall said. “But knowing him he’s really going to be focused on taking care of Oklahoma City this season, and I’m going to be focused on taking care of the Washington Wizards.

“When the time is right and he can get away from all that, we’ll probably have some conversation and throw a pitch.”

Rather than reveal the rest, take a few seconds and listen for yourself.

***

No. 3:Hassan Whiteside doesn’t want to be a one-hit wonder — What can a surprise performer do for an encore? We’ll all be watching and wondering about Hassan Whiteside, the journeyman big man who came out of nowhere to bolster the Heat in the wake of LeBron James‘ departure. There will be lots on the line for Whiteside, most notably money; he can cash in big time next summer, when he’ll be a free agent and the salary cap will rise. Ira Winderman of the SunSentinel spoke with him…

By now, we all know the story. Last year Whiteside rose from D-League reject to the talk of the NBA. After being out of the league, he captivated the media by sharing tales of growing tired of eating rice while playing in China and witnessing car-bombings in Lebanon.

He endured these sometimes-uncomfortable experiences abroad, and spent time in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Des Moines, Iowa, before earning another shot in the NBA. And Whiteside took advantage of the Heat’s gamble by averaging 11.8 points and 10 rebounds in 48 games.

As he prepares for an encore performance, Whiteside will no longer have the surprise element. No more playful stories about his unlikely path here. No more candid talk about his rating on the NBA 2K video game.

All everyone is focused on is whether he can produce All-Star numbers, a situation Whiteside is comfortable with.

“There’s never any pressure on me,” Whiteside said. “There were people who never believed in me anyway, so I don’t expect you to start believing in me now.”

The 7-foot Whiteside sounds as if he’s spent the summer listening to uplifting Journey songs on repeat. He expects the success “goes on and on, and on, and on.” A year older, his boyish attributes evident when he arrived last December are long gone. His shoulders are less like a clothes hanger and more like Dwight Howard.

Most days, he’s worked out twice daily at AmericanAirlines Arena. Some of it is fine-tuning. Some of it is adding new dimensions he hopes will surprise competitors.

***

No. 4:David Lee has a ring, now wants respect in Boston — After grabbing a championship ring in Golden State, where his role was reduced with the emergence of DraymondGreen, David Lee is looking for a recharge in Boston. It wasn’t too long ago when Lee was a double-double guy who could get 25 points or 15 rebounds on any given night. He still believes he’s that type of player, and recently spoke with Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com…

The Celtics believe that Lee, acquired this offseason in a swap with the Golden State Warriors, can help a young and impressionable team take a step forward in large part because of his NBA experiences, particularly after winning a title last season.

“I don’t think David wants to think of himself as old, because he’s not — he’s still a young guy in a lot of ways,” said Stevens. “But I think that, any time you have guys that have seen it and been there, I think what they can share is important. And the challenge is being able to share that within what you’re doing because he’s got a transition to make with regard to learning me and learning how we’re trying to play and learning our guys that he’s playing with and everything else. I think he’ll make that transition smoothly. He’s a really bright guy. And I will encourage him to be open in communicating to all those younger guys because I think that’s important.”

The Celtics are hopeful that Lee, a two-time All-Star who was averaging nearly a double-double at 18.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game just two seasons ago, can not only provide leadership but get back to being an impactful player a season after he accepted a reduced role to aid Golden State’s title hunt.

Lee moved to the Boston area a month ago to get acclimated and joined many of the team’s younger players for what he playfully called the “preseason to the preseason” with daily workouts. While Boston brought back 10 total players from last season’s squad that utilized a second-half surge to earn the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, Lee has begun trying to establish himself as a veteran leader despite learning a new system.

“I think, for me, it’s just about being myself,” said Lee. “I’ve been in the league a long time and I’ve seen a lot of things, both good and bad. And I think that I’m a guy that, a lot of times, leads by example. I’m a hard-working guy and I think that’s something that’s good for the young guys to see, when their veterans are hard-workers, because at that point they have no choice but to fall in line and do the same. For the veteran guys, it sets the tone, both in training camp and preseason as the season goes along.

“I’m just going to be myself. I think I’m a pretty likable guy and a guy that can set a good tone by my work ethic.”

NEWS OF THE MORNING

No. 1: Paul only cares that Jordan is back in LA — At this point, the details no longer matter to Chris Paul. The rumors and speculation of his fractured relationship with DeAndre Jordan and how it almost led to Jordan’s departure for Dallas via free agency was overblown, if you listen to the Los Angeles Clippers’ superstar and his version of the team’s wild and crazy free agent summer. He and Jordan are “brothers,” or as Paul put in Sunday, Jordan is his “big little brother.” Justin Verrierof ESPN.com explains:

While reports indicated that a rift between Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan played a role in the center agreeing to sign a free-agent deal with the Dallas Mavericks before ultimately re-upping with the Los Angeles Clippers, Paul said that it “doesn’t matter” what people say, and that he’s “unbelievably happy” to have him back.

“DeAndre’s like my big little brother,” Paul said before the first annual Players’ Awards at the Penn & Teller theater at the Rio Las Vegas. “We talk a lot more than people ever realize. But it doesn’t matter [what people say]. The only thing that matters is that he’s back.”

After heavy courting from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and forward Chandler Parsons, Jordan agreed to a four-year max contract with Dallas early in free agency. But after a chaotic chain of events that saw a cavalcade of Clippers personnel — including coach Doc Rivers, Blake Griffin, Paul Pierce and Paul himself — meet with Jordan at his Houston home, the 26-year-old changed his mind and signed a four-year deal with the Clippers worth an estimated $88 million, according to ESPN sources.

“It’s been pretty wild,” said Pierce, who signed a reported three-year, $10 million deal with the Clippers this offseason. “But I think that whole saga really took a form or shape of its own. It got a lot bigger than it was supposed to be, but I made my decision to be a Clipper and DeAndre changed his mind and made his decision to be a Clipper. We’re happy with the way things turned out.”

Pierce, who played for the Washington Wizards last season, said he wasn’t privy to the events before his arrival in L.A., but is encouraged by the result of the sitdown.

“I kind of sat in and voiced what I thought,” Pierce said. “But I was on the outside looking in. I think guys really cleared the air if there was any tension, but a lot of the media made it more than it really was from what I saw. But it was good just to have the main guys who are going to be the main voices on this team in one room. It was really good. Hopefully it can be the start of something special.”

The Rockets’ pursuit of a playmaker landed them one of the league’s best and a bargain price – but with one huge question mark attached.

The Rockets reached agreement on a deal for Denver point guard Ty Lawson, acquiring the six-year veteran without giving up anyone from their playing rotation, a person with knowledge of the deal said on Sunday. The individual spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal will not be complete until Monday morning.

The move, however, is not without risk. Lawson entered a 30-day private alcohol treatment program last week after his second DUI arrest in the past six months. He has a court appearance scheduled for Aug. 20 in Denver.

Though often targeted in trade talks and especially since Denver drafted Emmanuel Mudiay with the seventh pick of the NBA Draft last month, Lawson’s off-court problems had apparently dramatically reduced the Nuggets’ asking price.

The Rockets will send guard Nick Johnson, forward Kostas Papanikolaou, guard Pablo Prigioni and center Joey Dorsey, along with a protected first-round pick to get Lawson. Only Johnson was expected to have a chance to be in the Rockets playing rotation next season, and in his case, only if he could make the transition to point guard.

The pick that will go to Denver is protected through the lottery. The Rockets will receive Denver’s 2017 second-round pick.

Lawson, 27, has two seasons worth $25.6 million remaining on his contract.

With the move, along with an agreement with forward KJ McDaniels on Sunday, the Rockets move into the luxury tax. They can still sign Jason Terry or other players to veteran minimum contracts, but once they use any of their remaining mid-level exception money to sign second-round pick Montrez Harrell, they will be “hard-capped” and unable to make those offers.

Prigioni is expected to be waived shortly after the deal is official, with only $440,000 of his contract guaranteed. Papanikolaou’s contract, worth $4.7 million, is non-guaranteed if he is waived by Oct. 4, but he and Johnson were considered important parts to a deal.

For the Rockets, Lawson brings the playmaking they had said they wanted since the end of last season and with strengths that match their up-tempo and pick-and-roll style.

While bringing playmaking at point guard that the Rockets had lacked, he is not an ideal fit next to James Harden because he is at his best with the ball in his hands and the Rockets have preferred to keep Harden as their primary ball-handler. Lawson, however, has shown potential as a catch-and-shoot threat, especially on corner 3s where last season he made 42.1 percent of his shots.

While Harden was second in the NBA last season in points scored or produced with his assists, Lawson was seventh. He has made 46.6 percent of his shots and 36.9 percent of his 3-pointers in his career, but has never played with a playmaker to get him the spot-up opportunities he can get while playing with Harden.

Lawson averaged 15.2 points and a career-high 9.6 assists last season, third in the NBA behind Chris Paul and John Wall.

With the deal for Lawson after signing Pat Beverley, Marcus Thornton and Corey Brewer this month, the Rockets go from thin in the backcourt at the end of last season when Beverley was hurt and Prigioni and Terry had to man the point, to unusually deep around Harden.

***

No. 3:Former Kentucky stars lift Suns to title game — There were enough of them in summer league action this summer to field two teams comprised strictly of former Kentucky Wildcats, both young (Devin Booker) and old (Keith Bogans). A robust group of 13 were on various rosters in Orlando, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. Three of them, Booker, Archie Goodwin and Josh Harrellson, will cap things off today in the championship game in Vegas after combining for 62 points to lift the Phoenix Suns past the New Orleans Pelicans. As Dennis Varneyof the Herald Leader explains, it’s good to be Blue these days:

The Phoenix Suns’ trio of former Kentucky stars combined for 62 points, including going 9-for-19 from three-point range, in the team’s 93-87 victory over the previously undefeated New Orleans Pelicans in the Las Vegas Summer League semifinals on Sunday night.

Rookie Devin Booker led the way with 31 points, which tied the single-game high for the Las Vegas summer league this year. He was 5-for-9 from long range, and also had nine rebounds and two assists. Booker hit six of seven free-throw attempts.

“I just want to get wins,” Booker said. “I always have a winning attitude, and that’s what we’re out here for.”

Booker missed his first eight three-point attempts to start summer league play, but he has heated up since.

“Shooters never stop shooting,” he said. “I’ve been through slumps before, but you always have to keep shooting. … I wasn’t worried about it. I knew it was eventually going to fall.”

Josh Harrellson, a free agent trying to play his way back on to an NBA roster, started in place of the Suns’ Alex Len (rest). Harrellson scored 19 points to go with nine rebounds and an assist.

Harrellson was 3-for-8 from three-point range, and he’s 10-for-23 (43.5 percent) from that distance this summer.

Third-year Suns guard Archie Goodwin, who has scored 20-plus points in three of the team’s six games this summer, added 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.

***

No. 4: McDermott ready for breakout season under Hoiberg? — A fresh start could be just what Doug McDermott needs in Chicago. And he, along with Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and the rest of the veterans on the roster, will get exactly that with new coach Fred Hoiberg. But if his performance this summer is any indication, McDermott could benefit more than anyone from the change. In a Q&A with Sam Vecenie of CBSSports.com, McDermott addressed that premise and more:

CBSSports.com: You’re coming off of a rookie year where you didn’t really get to play a lot. What do you think your role will look like next year given that the Bulls didn’t really lose anyone?

McDermott: You know, you learn from those guys. A lot of veterans still. But I think I fit in with Coach Hoiberg’s system pretty well, so I think it’ll be a great experience getting to learn from someone like him.

CBSSports.com: That’s actually another thing I wanted to ask you about. Coach Hoiberg actually went to your high school if I remember correctly. That’s kind of a weird and awesome coincidence for you, no?

McDermott: Yeah, it’s awesome. It’s great having a coach you can relate to, but even more having a guy that grew up in the same town as you is pretty cool. We didn’t know each other a whole lot when I was growing up, but just having his presence around is pretty cool.

CBSSports.com: Did you have any experience at all with him beforehand?

McDermott: I actually saw him at a couple of weddings, just with people that we knew mutually so we actually got to know each other a little bit there. So it was good to really get to know him a little beforehand.

CBSSports.com: What’s the biggest thing you learned from your rookie year this year?

McDermott: Just patience. You know, you gotta wait your turn, especially on a good team. It’s all about getting better every single day. You can’t really worry. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You just have to put in your work and good things will happen.

CBSSports.com: One thing I noticed here in summer league is that you were playing a bit more of the 4. Do you think that’s going to be something you do more of throughout next season?

McDermott: Yeah, I think it’ll kind of depend on matchups and stuff. And having a guy like Niko Mirotic, we can kind of play both the 3 or 4 and kind of run the same spots so being able to play with a guy like him, plus we have a lot of versatility out there so I think it’ll be good.

August 5, 2014 · 6:28 PM ET

Last week, when virtually nobody was looking, point guard Tony Parker signed a three-year contract extension.

That’s usually the way the Spurs do business.

But for a franchise that usually goes out of its way to avoid creating even a ripple in the pool, the Spurs have made loud splashes this summer. The first was hiring longtime European coach Ettore Messina as an assistant coach. That was just a warmup.

The addition of WNBA star Becky Hammon to the coaching staff is nothing less than a cannonball.

Hammon, who is retiring as a player at the end of this season, will become the first full-time female assistant coach in NBA history.

Lisa Boyer was a volunteer assistant coach for the Cavaliers under John Lucas during the 2001-02 season, but she did not sit on the bench during games or travel with the team.

Make no mistake. This is big, potentially a game-changer and another milestone for women in sports and as professionals in general. Hammon will have the same duties as the rest of the coaching staff; scouting, writing reports, game-planning and offering her opinions in coaching sessions.

“In some ways it is trailblazing,” Hammon said on a conference call Tuesday afternoon. “But so many other women have done so many great things. I’m just following in their path.”

“I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said in a statement from the team. “Having observed her working with our team this past season, I’m confident her basketball IQ, work ethic and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs.”

Hammon is a 16-year WNBA veteran and was voted one of the 15 all-time best players in league history. Ironically, an ACL injury that forced her to sit out last season may have opened the door to coaching. While in San Antonio rehabilitating during the offseason, Hammon asked Spurs general manager R.C. Buford and Popovich if she could attend practices and sit in on meetings. A connection was quickly established and both sides were on the road toward making history, though with no intention of grabbing the spotlight.

“Coach Pop made it clear to me I was being hired because of my basketball IQ and my qualifications,” Hammon said. ” ‘It just so happens you’re a woman.’ ”

It is, of course, the Spurs’ way to push at the envelope, leap outside the box of conventional thinking. They won their fifth NBA title in June with a roster consisting of 10 international players that came from eight different countries. Messina has spent more than a quarter century as perhaps the top coach in Europe and was widely regarded for years as one who could make the jump across the Atlantic to thrive in the NBA. It took the Spurs to actually make it happen.

Still, it is a quantum leap to make Hammon a woman at the highest level of the men’s game.

“People have always asked me if a woman could play in the NBA,” Hammon said. “I tell them no, because there is a difference. The men are too big, too strong. But when it comes to coaching, game-planning and scheming, there’s no reason that a woman can’t do anything a man can do.”

August 20, 2012 · 10:05 AM ET

HANG TIME, TEXAS — There have been plenty of different reasons for teams to use the amnesty provision in the new collective bargaining agreement.

By severing their ties with Elton Brand, the Sixers put themselves in a position where they could eventually land Andrew Bynum to anchor the middle of their lineuip.

The Rockets let go of Luis Scola in part to clear space for their failed pursuit of Dwight Howard, but also as a next step in an extreme makeover of their roster.

The Suns released Josh Childress so they would have cap space to acquire Scola, who they hope will be a solid, steady veteran presence as they head in a new direction in the post-Steve Nash era.

Then there are the Wizards, who cut big man Andray Blatche because, well, it was time.

The dictionary definition of amnesty is: a forgetting or overlooking any past offenses.

After seven seasons of unrealized potential, frustration and immaturity, it might be difficult for the Wizards to completely forget all that Blatche never became, but it was clearly worth the $23 million it cost to turn him loose and turn the page. (more…)

July 2, 2012 · 1:08 PM ET

HANG TIME CAPITAL BUREAU – Free-agent forward Chris Wilcox has been cleared for full-court contact, his agent said Monday, as the 29-year-old attempts to resume his career after undergoing aortic surgery last March. Wilcox had been playing well for the Boston Celtics as a reserve when the team’s doctors noticed what the team called a “significant” enlargement of his aorta. As a precaution, Wilcox was shut down for the season and operated on at the Cleveland Clinic March 29.

Doctors performed what is known as a “Modified David” procedure, in which a graft was attached to a small piece of Wilcox’s aorta to prevent it from enlarging further after he finishes playing. There was no valve replacement or bypass procedure performed.

Wilcox’s cardiologist, Dr. Matt Hook, of the Wake Heart and Vascular Associates in Raleigh, N.C., cleared Wilcox for full contact in the last few days. Wilcox has been working out in North Carolina the last few weeks, lifting weights and doing cardio work, and is planning to go to Houston to continue his workouts with player development guru John Lucas. Wilcox shot 59 percent from the floor last season for the Celtics, averaging 5.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in a little more than 17 minutes per game.

“After the great year he had with Boston, I know Chris could be a strong contributor for any team,” agent Jeff Schwartz said Monday.